Somalia clashes spread beyond capital

Fresh fighting has erupted between Islamic militia and a US-backed warlord alliance on the outskirts of the Somali capital, killing at least three as the clashes spread.

01 Jun 2006 14:38 GMT

Warlords are trying to recapture ground lost to the Islamists

Stung by the loss on Wednesday of a key position in northeastMogadishu, the alliance attacked on Thursday the Islamists at the nearby villageof El Arfid, north of the city, sparking a fierce exchange in whichthree were killed and seven wounded.

"The fighting between Islamic courts and warlords has started inthe El Arfid and Dermoley areas," said Moalim Ashi, an elder in thenearby town of Balad, about 30 kilometres from thecapital.

More than 500 heavily armed fighters on both sides backed byscores of pick-ups with machineguns mounted on them were involved in the clashesthat sent hundreds of villagers fleeing in terror, witnesses said.

"At least three people were killed in today's fighting and sevenmore were wounded," Abdi Ibrahim, a doctor at the Al-Hikma hospital, told AFP.

The alliance had been regrouping in Balad with reinforcementsfrom the town of Jowhar, some 90 kilometres north ofMogadishu, with an eye to attacking the Islamists.

Witnesses said the fighting had cut roads between the capital andJowhar.

Tense capital

In Mogadishu itself, sporadic gunfire could be heard around thenortheastern neighborhood of Sukahola, where the Islamists seizedalliance positions in co-ordinated attacks on Wednesday,residents said.

A day after the two sides pounded each other with heavy machinegun, rocket and artillery fire, the area was tense but generallyviolence free, although the death toll from Wednesday's clashes roseby three to 10, they said.

"Apart from the sporadic gunfire, Sukahola is relatively calm,"said a resident, Abdulahmed Noor, who like others expressed deepconcern about a resumption in battles.

"We fear fighting could erupt at anytime because the gunmen havenot moved from the frontlines," said another resident, AminaMohammed.

In addition to three people who died of their wounds overnight,doctors at Al-Hakma hospital, citing militia sources, said anotherthree fighters had been killed on Wednesday, bringing that deathtoll to 13.

The latest fatalities brought to at least 78 the number ofpeople killed in the most recent round of clashes that began lastWednesday, worsened Thursday and exploded on Saturday, when 30people died.

More than 316 people have been killed and more than 1,500wounded, many of them civilians, since the Alliance for theRestoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism (ARPCT) and the Islamiccourts began battling in February.

Weak government

Somalia has been without a functioning central authority since1991 and the country's largely powerless transitional government,based in Baidoa about 250 kilometres (155 miles) northwest ofMogadishu, has blamed the alliance and the United States forthe fighting.

The US denies responsibility for the clashes, althoughit has refused to confirm or deny its support for the ARPCT.

But US officials and Somali analysts have said off the record thatWashington has given money to the ARPCT, one of several groups it isworking with to curb what it says is a growing threat from radicalIslamists in Somalia.